


Adoption

by lord_of_the_phantom



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Adoption, Children, F/M, Fluff, Pure Cuteness, lil miracles, madeleine - Freeform, they name a child after valjean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-19 00:14:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11301759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lord_of_the_phantom/pseuds/lord_of_the_phantom
Summary: Eponine's been thinking. About adoption.





	Adoption

“Marius, I’ve been thinking,” Èponine said, sinking onto the couch beside him.  
“Oh, that’s never good,” Marius replied, shaking his head. “Last time you were ‘thinking,’ we ended up with yet another child.”   
“And um…what if I mentioned that was what I wanted this time?” Èponine said, sinking further into the soft material of the couch. Marius groaned and sat down next to her. “Hear me out! I was thinking we could adopt a child. After all, it changed Cosette’s life, and I want to change a life too. It would’ve made me a better person if Monsieur Valjean had taken me away too.”  
Marius smiled. “If that would make you happy, Èponine. And I understand where you’re coming from. I’d love to change a life as well.”  
“You already changed mine,” Èponine teased. “Isn’t that good enough?”  
“Moving on. We’d have to talk to Mireille, Adrien, and Devereux first. They have to at least know that they’re getting a new sibling. And can I pitch an idea?”  
“Of course! Remember, if you don’t want to adopt a child, you can just say so. It’s not all up to me. You’d be their parent too. I don’t want you to think I’m forcing this on y0u.”  
He wrapped his arm around her. “I do want to adopt a child. This seems like something you’ve been thinking about for a while, and I think we’d be able to raise another child. After all, Mir, Dev, and Adrien are so sweet and if our new child is anything like them we should be in good shape. I just have one request: can we adopt a girl? I mean, Adrien and Devereux are really close, and I want Mireille to have someone. I saw how close you and Azelma were before she died. Mireille needs someone like that. Oh, and can we name her Madeleine? That was the fake identity of the man who saved me at the barricade.”  
Èponine kissed him and rested her head on his shoulder. “Of course, love. Her nickname could be Maddy. I mean, if that’s okay with you.”   
He pulled her closer to him. “That’s perfect. Madeleine Pontmercy, Maddy for short. Shall we tell the others? After all, they deserve to know, don’t they?” Èponine nodded. “Mireille! Adrien! Devereux!” Marius called.   
“Hi, Papa! Hi, Maman!” Mireille said, walking in and flopping down on Èponine’s lap. She looked mostly like Èponine, but with Marius’s green eyes and auburn hair.   
“Why are we here?” Adrien asked. Now, he had Èponine’s dark hair and brown eyes. Devereux, the youngest of the three with auburn hair and shining brown eyes, didn’t say anything, just sat down next to Marius.   
“Well, we wanted to talk to you about something very important,” Èponine said.   
“Oh no,” Mireille groaned. “This is exactly how you told us about Dev!”  
Devereux glared at his sister. “Mir, you know I’m not that annoying. You love me, really.”  
“Oh, please. You’re extremely annoying at times and-”  
“Kids! Your mother was trying to speak,” Marius said.   
“Sorry, Maman,” Mireille said, looking up at her mother. Èponine squeezed her daughter. “Does that mean I’m forgiven?”  
“Of course. I could never stay mad at you for long, my little miracle.” Mireille beamed.   
“If you noticed through this whole thing, your favorite child was quiet through this whole thing!” Adrien said. Mireille and Devereux rolled their eyes. Adrien was full of it sometimes.   
Marius cleared his throat and everyone fell silent. “Well, your father and I have been talking, and we were thinking…Èponine, do you want to share the news?” Marius asked.  
“Oh, you’re just bad at sharing things.” She swatted his arm and the children all cringed. They weren’t fond of their parents flirting in front of them. “Well, as your father was saying, we were talking earlier…and how would you feel if we adopted another little girl? She’d become your sister.”  
Mireille beamed. “A sister? Awesome! I’ve always wanted to be a big sister. I mean, I’m older than Adrien and Dev, but I want a little sister.”   
Marius smiled and hugged his daughter. “I figured that you’d be open to this idea, Mir. Devereux, Adrien, what do you think? Do you want a little sister?”  
“I mean, I’d have to hurt anyone who hurt her, but I’d do that for Mireille anyway. Except she’d probably hurt them herself,” Devereux said. Everyone laughed and nodded.  
“Agreed,” Adrien said. “What would her name be? I’m thinking…Rebecca.”   
Mireille nodded. “I like that. Your thoughts, Dev?” The younger boy nodded.   
Èponine laughed. “Well, about that…we already have a name picked out. Madeleine.” The children’s faces fell. “But! We can have her middle name be Rebecca. Madeleine Rebecca. Doesn’t that sound pretty?”  
“I guess,” Mireille sighed. “Not as pretty as Rebecca Madeleine though.”  
“We’re naming her Madeleine for a reason, Mir. That was the fake name of the man who saved my life at the barricade,” Marius said.   
“I thought Maman saved your life,” Adrien muttered.   
“He said man, Adrien. Pay attention!” Mireille said. “Maman isn’t a man. Unless we don’t know something.”   
Èponine laughed. “No, loves. I’m not hiding anything, I promise. But are you all okay with us adopting? I don’t want to hurt you in any way.”  
“We’re good!” the boys chorused before running upstairs. They were clearly dying to do something, and their parents weren’t sure they wanted to find out what.   
“And what about you, Mireille? How do you feel about getting a new sibling?” Marius asked. “I know it’s hard for you with just the boys, me, and Maman around.”  
Mireille smiled. “I’m excited! I really want a sister. All my friends have sisters and I’m just stuck with the boys. But you know what none of them have?”  
“What?” Èponine asked.   
“A twin. Me and Adrien are unique like that. Nobody else in the whole grade has a twin!” Mireille shouted. Her parents laughed. Their daughter was the sweetest little girl on the planet. “But anyway, I’m cool with the idea of having a sister. She’ll be my best friend ever!”  
“Better than Margot?” Marius said. Mireille shrugged. “And what about Adrien? I know the two of you are very close, being twins and all.”  
“Marius, don’t swamp our poor girl with questions! Now, Mir, why don’t you go check on the boys? They looked like they were about to get into some trouble,” Èponine said. Then, in a quieter voice, she added, “You can’t trust boys. They’re usually up to no good.” Mireille giggled and slid off the couch, running upstairs.   
“Well, now that the kiddos are out of the way, we need to talk a little more about this. Are you thinking local or international adoption?” Marius asked.   
“Local. And I was already looking at this little girl.” Èponine stood up and walked to the computer, typing in the website address of France’s best-known adoption agency. She then scrolled down to the profile of a seven-year-old African-American girl. “Jocelyne Trudeau.”  
“She’s a cutie. Any ideas on her backstory? Gosh, I made her sound like a movie character,” Marius laughed. “Where she came from. That’s a better way to put it.”  
Èponine’s face darkened. “She was from an abusive household. Her parents neglected her in favor of crime. She had to steal just to eat. And her parents took their anger out on her. Social services took her away when the police caught her and now she’s got nobody.” Tears shone in her hazel eyes. “She’s like me, Marius. But no one took me away. She’ll be so much better off with us. She can have all the opportunities I’ll never have. We can give her hope.”  
Marius smiled. “That sounds perfect. And I think that Jocelyne will be a perfect child for our family. Now, I read that there’s some paperwork we have to fill out? Why don’t you print it and we’ll send it in tomorrow?”  
Èponine grinned sheepishly. “Umm…about that? I may have already filled out the paperwork?” she confessed.   
Marius laughed. “What are we going to do with you, Èponine?”  
She wrinkled her nose. “Love me and cherish me until both of us die?”   
“Sounds good to me.” He kissed her forehead and she smiled.   
About a month passed before they heard back from the adoption agency. “Mireille, dear, can you go fetch the mail?” Èponine asked as she prepared lunch for her family. The little girl nodded and skipped out to the mailbox, a smile decorating her dimpled face. Èponine was setting the sandwiches on the table, ham and cheese, just like everyone loved, when her little girl came sprinting back in at full speed.   
“Maman! Papa! Adrien! Devereux!” she shouted, waving a letter around and dancing around the kitchen with it. “They wrote back! They wrote back!”  
“Really?” Adrien asked, sticking his head around the doorframe. “Alright! And lunch is ready. Dev! Get down here!”  
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Dev yelled back. “Geesh. Can a kid not catch a break in this place?”  
“Nope!” Mireille laughed. “Pontmercys don’t need breaks, Devi.”  
“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Devi?”  
“More than you have.”  
“Come on, kids. We’ve got to eat and open the letter!” Marius said, pulling Èponine’s chair out for her. She smiled and kissed him, much to the kids’ displeasure. “Now, Mireille, why don’t you hand the letter to your mother? This whole thing was her idea, so I think it’s up to her to open it.”  
“Oh, fine,” Mireille grumbled, sliding the letter over to her mother.   
“Thank you, my little miracle. Now, shall I read it?” Èponine asked.   
“Of course!” Adrien shouted. “I wanna know if I’m gettin’ a baby sister!”  
“Well, Ad, she’s hardly younger than you. Only a few months. Not like she’s your baby sister, per se. She’s older than Dev though. Sorry, son,” Marius laughed. The little boy wrinkled his nose in a manner not unlike his mother.   
“Can you just hush so Maman can read?” Mireille asked.   
Èponine rolled her eyes and opened the envelope, unfolding the letter and beginning to read.  
“Dear M. and Mme. Pontmercy,  
We’ve read over your files multiple times and you seem to be good parents to Mademoiselle Mireille and Monsieurs Adrien and Devereux. Therefore, we have few reasons to believe that you aren’t qualified to raise Jocelyne as your own. Of course, there is the matter of Mme. Pontmercy’s heritage. We’ve seen that her parents were abusive.”   
Èponine gasped. No. They couldn’t prevent them from adopting Jocelyne just because of who she was descended from. She was different. Couldn’t they see that? Èponine was nothing like her parents! She was already raising three wonderful children, and they were all turning out well. How could they? She had no choice but to read on.  
“However, there are no charges against your family with abuse of your birth children, so we suppose that the issue is irrelevant. You can come at any time you want to pick Jocelyne up.”   
Èponine smiled. “Madeleine is ours now! So, when you want to go pick her up?”   
“Today, today!” Adrien yelled. “Like, right after lunch today!”  
“Oh, okay,” Marius laughed, looking over at Èponine. She nodded. “Today’s good.”  
“But I’ve got some ground rules we need to go over first,” Èponine said. Everyone groaned. “Hear me out, hear me out! I want Maddy to feel welcome. To do that, I need everyone to be kind to her. Devereux, that means no pranking. Adrien and Mireille, you can just act like you usually do. You’re good kids. And I want you all to share your things. You’ve already done so much, like sacrificing your playroom to make a room for her, and I’m so proud. I just want Maddy to feel wanted here. Can you do that for me, children?”   
“Of course, Maman!” the kids chorused, smiling.   
The little family finished up their sandwiches and drove to the adoption center. Everyone was buzzing with excitement to meet little Madeleine.   
Marius walked up to the desk, smiling as he did so. “Hi, we’re the Pontmercy family. We were told that we were eligible to adopt Jocelyne Trudeau?” he said.  
The receptionist nodded. “Of course. Come this way.” She stood up and led them back to a room, then walked out a few minutes later.   
“Where’d the lady go?” Adrien asked.  
“Probably to go get Maddy, duh,” Mireille said, nudging her brother’s shoulder. He rolled his eyes. Marius glared at his daughter. “Sorry, Papa. I won’t do that when Maddy comes.”   
The woman walked back into the room, leading a little girl with black hair adorned with a red bow and wide brown eyes. She looked terrified as she scanned the room. “M’name’s Jocelyne,” she mumbled. “I guess you’re my new family.”  
Mireille nodded. “Yep! That’s Maman.” She pointed at Èponine. “She’s one of the best people ever. She and Papa are so funny! I just recommend staying away from them when they get all mushy. She used to be a criminal, but that’s okay. Grandpapa forced her into it. She cares about us more than anything else. You’re gonna love Maman.”  
“Bonjour, Jocelyne!” Èponine said. “I’ve got a question for you.” Jocelyne nodded. “How would you feel if we changed your name to Madeleine Rebecca instead of Jocelyne Yvonne? And just saying, if you’re not comfortable with calling my husband and I Maman and Papa yet, you don’t have to.”   
“That’s okay. I don’t like my name anyway. My old Maman gave it to me and she was real mean. And I’ll call you Maman and Papa. That’s what you are now,” the newly renamed Madeleine said.   
Mireille then resumed her introductions. “That’s Papa. He’s also one of the best people ever. He’s so nice, especially to Maman. They’ve been best friends forever. And he’s always ready to help us with homework! And guess what? Papa fought in the rebellion! Maman actually saved his life! And you’re named after a man who saved him.”  
Marius smiled. “Hi, Madeleine. I’m your new Papa, if you want me to be.” Maddy beamed up at him.   
“I’d like that a lot,” she said, gaining confidence.  
Mireille pointed to Adrien. “That’s my twin brother, Adrien. He’s one of my best friends. I know we might not look a lot alike, but he’s so friendly. And you don’t have to worry about him being rude. That’s Devi’s area of expertise. Anyway, he’s already threatened to kill anyone who hurts you, so you should be in good shape!”   
Adrien laughed. “Mireille, you’re going to scare poor Maddy. But like Mir said, I’m a pretty cool guy. And I’m not afraid to hurt someone. No one messes with my little sister and gets away with it. Or my older sister, for that matter.”  
Madeleine giggled. “So I guess Mireille’s older?” The auburn-haired girl nodded.   
“Look at her. She fits perfectly into our little family,” Èponine said, laying her head against Marius’s chest. “I’m so proud of Mireille.”   
“Don’t be proud yet. Maddy hasn’t met Devereux,” Marius said. Èponine laughed. “Oh, never mind. She’ll be fine. Now, we’d better get to work on the leftover paperwork.”  
“Oh, fine.”   
Mireille glared at her parents. “Excuse me, I was talking here.” She then turned back to Madeleine. “Sorry. Sometimes even grown-ups get out of line, and then it’s up to us kids to handle it. Anyway, that’s Devereux, aka Dev or Devi. He’s the family mischief-making prankster. But deep underneath all that, he’s a big softie. Right, Devereux?” The younger boy glared at his sister. “Oh, ignore him. He and Adrien are really close, but we don’t need them. We’ve got each other!”   
“Hey, Madeleine. Can I call you Maddy? I mean, everyone else is,” he said. “Ignore most things that Mireille says. I’m not a big softie. And sure, I like pranks, but doesn’t everyone?” Maddy laughed.   
Mireille smiled. “Then there’s me. Mireille Felice Pontmercy. I was the only girl up until now. I like drawing, singing, and playing with my parents. Dolls are my favorite toys. I keep begging Maman and Papa for a kitten named Chaussette, but they won’t listen to me. Everyone calls me Mir, except sometimes Adrien calls me Maman Jr. because I always back up Maman and Papa.”  
Madeleine looked at her new older sister. “You all seem so kind. I can’t ask for a better family. My old Maman and Papa were mean to me. But my new Maman and Papa would never hurt me, would they, Mir?” Maddy asked.  
Èponine knelt down next to her daughter. “Of course not, Maddy. My parents were mean to me too. I used to be a Thenardier. That might not mean anything to you, but they were the worst criminals in Paris.”  
Madeleine’s eyes widened. “You were a Thenardier? No way! Old Maman looked up to them. She wanted to be just like the Thenardiers. I don’t like Old Maman. She’s in jail where she belongs.”   
Marius smiled. “Come on, you four. Time to head home. ‘Ponine, have you got Maddy?” he asked. She nodded and lifted her new daughter into the air, unable to ignore how light she was.   
Èponine and Marius arrived home with their heads spinning due to the kids having too many conversations at once. Then, the minute they walked through the door, Mireille ran upstairs to show Madeleine around.  
“Good grief. This is going to be exhausting,” Marius laughed, slumping onto the couch.   
“But worth it. Definitely worth it,” Èponine laughed.  
The exhausted couple eventually fell asleep on the couch, most to the kids’ entertainment.  
“They’re so cute when they’re sleeping. I guess we tired them out!” Devereux laughed.   
“Well, that was our intention, wasn’t it?” Maddy asked.  
“You’re fitting right in, Madeleine! You’ve got the Pontmercy sense of humor in you already,” Adrien said, grinning.  
“Thank you! I take that as a compliment of the highest honor,” Madeleine said.  
With that, the kids ran back upstairs, leaving their exhausted parents to sleep. After all, they didn’t need their parents at the time. No one was arguing and Maddy was fitting in perfectly with the other children.   
Everything was just as they dreamed it would be.

**Author's Note:**

> AAAAAAAHHHH THIS WAS SO FUN AND CUTE TO WRITE! In other news, I hurt myself like ten minutes ago and I'm in TERRIBLE TERRIBLE pain. But hey! That's fine! I wrote cuteness! Also I'm planning another musical listen because I found a song from Ghost the Musical and it's AWESOME. But I'm going off track. I hope you enjoyed this!


End file.
